Conference vicki::boats

    My cousin slapped a "Cousteau Society" sticker over some holes in
    his boat.  How about a C.G. courtesy inspection decal?  Faster and
    cheaper than gelcoat.  ;^)
    Doug

    I would fill them and cover with gel coat and match it as best you
    can. This will at least give you a water tight seal. If you are
    not happy with how it looks you could then cover it with something....
    
    Capt. Codfish

    Anyone got any thoughts on the best place for an antenna mount on a
    walkaround cuddy?   Horizontally on the walkway kills the use of the
    walkway.  Vertically on the outside of the hull or on the railing also
    effectively narrows the passage.   The rail mount also would expose the
    antenna cable in an ugly way.   Vertically on the side of the cabin is
    a possibility although, again, I hate to stick projections into the
    walkway.   Top of the cabin has a full-width sunlounger, so that's out.
    Somewhere around the transom might be less in the way of people but
    would interfere with my rod holders.
    
    Need ideas.

I simply put up with the antenna/mounts being in the way. I can pass through the
windshield of my cuddy over the deck, so it isn't as much an inconvenience for
me as it might be for you. The previous owner had the antenna mounted on (what
passed for a) deck so that as you passed between the side of the windshield and
the bow rail it was underfoot. Since he had a big hole there for the antenna
connector I left it there, as is. When I mounted my loran antenna, I attached 
mouting plate vertically to the side of the boat opposite the VHF antenna. It is
still in the way as you try to make your way down the 4" wide walkway to the bow
but less so whan mounted directly to the deck. It really isn't so bad. On a 
small boat like mine (that 22' Sea Ray cuddy) there aren't many other options,
and none put the antenna any higher - except mounting directly to the rail which
I didn't like the idea of for my boat, use, and conditions.

      It's too bad you have a full width sunlounger - the top of the
    cabin would be a good place.
    
      I would like to give you a couple of hints for *wherever* you
    end up mounting it:
    
    		1. You should not have *ANY* metal within about 2' of
    	*side* of the antenna. (under it is ok as in a rail mount) This
    	includes other antennas, bow rails, windshield frames, etc.
    	Any type of metal next to an antenna will detune the antenna
    	and reduce it's performance.
    
    		2. For a fishing boat, it is a good idea to keep any
    	antenna *inside* of the normal walking area that is used while
    	fishing - (on the side or top of the cuddy cabin for example)
    	The idea being that if you're fighting a fish, it's very nice
    	to be able to walk all the way around the boat without having
    	antennas in the way.
    
    
      The antennas on my father's boat are on the side of the cuddy
    and don't intrude much into your ability to walk around it - and
    they aren't in the way of fishing there.
    
    				Kenny

    Actually, all the possible mounting locations violate rule #1 in the
    previous reply (proximity to metal). And the roof of the cabin is out.
    
    Rodholders aside (I don't fish all that much) the transom is actually
    the most out of the way place.
    
    But that leads me to wonder why you don't see more antennas mounted on
    transoms.   Cable length?  Proximity to engine?

I'd say that both your suppositions are valid (cable length and proximity to 
engine), plus some practical concerns. Like, line handling, whether for docking 
or towing a disabled boat; water skiiing/tubing and associated water sports;
and height, because VHF signals are line-of-sight and all the height you 
can get is beneficial.

I have a cuddy cabin; not a walkaround, but it is possible to walk forward
along the gunwale, keeping one foot ahead of the other between the raised 
side and the handrail. We do this only in port because it's precarious and 
because the split windshield allows easier access to the bow area anyway. 
There's probably 10' of deck forward of the windshield.

Anyway, my antennas are side-mounted (on ratchet mounts) on the outside of the
raised sides. I installed backing plates inside the hull when I mounted the 
ratchet mounts. This installation has worked well for me on this boat since 1984.

There are so many sources of strong RF noise in the immediate area of the
engine that to route radio coax through that area is just not recommended.

Will it work? Yeah. Is it the best setup? Nope.

Art

    I have a 22' Angler walk around cuddy.  When I bought the boat used the
    antennaes (radio & loran) were mounted of rachet mounts near the
    transom on the inside of the gunnel.  When trolling, which I do a lot
    for blues & bass I had to put them down because they were always in the
    way.  This sprint I relocated them up forward on the gunnel inside the
    steel railing.  Now I cal leave them up all the time and they haven't
    presented a problem fishing or walking around.  I looks like you have
    to squeeze between the cabin and the antennae, but actually you never
    really notice it.  I also put backing plates under the gunnel and
    drilled a small hole next to the mounting bracket for the wires.  You
    have to remove the coax plug to pass the wire through.
    
    My reception doesn't seem to be affected by being close to the steel
    railing.  One day I picked up the woods hole coast guard out at the
    Ilse of Shoals and listed to a conversation bewteen the coast guard and
    another vessel in situate.
    
    This installation is certainly better than the previous one and it
    looks better.
    
    Gordon
    

    I'd also vote for mounting antennae inside the normal fishing/walking
    area, even if you don't fish much...they will far less of a bother.
    Mine are mounted to the side of the cuddy on ratchet mounts. I also
    have a RADAR pedestal mounted vertically to the cuddy. I does cut down
    the already narrow walk around area, but I prefer that to loosing the 
    360 degree fish/walk around capability that I bought the boat for.
    
    Paul

    I looked thru related topics and this one is as close as any.
    
    Here's my problem.  While dewinterizing my boat I noticed that the VHF
    antennae was cracked in a couple of places.  I don't know what happened
    over the winter but I suspect it has something to do with relocating
    the antennae last spring and I believe that snow/ice pushed on the
    cover cracking the fiberglass antennae.
    
    Has anyone ever repaired their antennae.  I thing that I can mix up
    some resin, take some fiberglass cloth and repair the cracks.  I am not
    sure what this will do the performance of the antennae.
    
    Next year I'll take it off and bring it inside.
    
    Thanks in advance for any information.
    
    Gordon (shooting for the first week in may - mackeral are here now)
    

About four years ago I had the misfortune of sideswiping an old boat that
was tied to the floating dock at Hampton Harbor. This boat had an
exaggerated flair to the bow, which meant that my hull passed well under
its gunwale before we bumped sides. His gunwale broke my 8' fiberglass
antenna about a foot above the ratchet mount. It was cracked in several
places adjacent to the point of impact; too weak to even stand up. 

When I got home I tested the antenna with a VSWR meter and it was
obviously still electrically intact.

I wrapped glass cloth (maybe a foot or so) around the damaged area, and
soaked it with epoxy (this was all in a fiberglass repair kit). It ain't
pretty, but it works and it has lasted. The antenna gets a real workout
when I'm charging into 3'-5' seas at 25 knots, and the repair holds. I
can hear shore stations when I'm out on Jeffreys Ledge, so it's
receiving; I've talked with other boats, so it's transmitting.

Try it.

Art

    Are you kidding? A new 8' Shakespeare antenna only cost $30.00.
    
    Repair it? Get a new one.

My Shakespeare is the combination 6db gain VHF / unity gain CB, and it
costs considerably more than that.

I guess you can argue both ways, but it's electrically sound and
physically fit as repaired... I'd rather buy lures with the money than a
"pretty" antenna.

To each his own...

Art

    I'm going to try the repair and buy extra lures.  I was able to pick up
    a conversation between two boats on the water from my driveway at least
    5 miles inland through woods so I think it's functioning ok.
    
    Let you know how it works out
    
    Gordon
    

    
    
    Picking up messages is a lot differnet than transmitting.  If the
    antenna is not electrically sound, you  could have an impedance
    mismatch. As soon as you go into the transmit mode with a mismatch or
    open circuit (open or high impedance at the frequencies you are
    transmitting at, not at the DC ohmmeter level), you can and usually do,
    blow the final amplifier.
     
    A good example of this is the fact that I have my old VHF (no
    synthesiszer-12 channel Xtal set) set up in my summer hiome as a
    monitor. I use the CBH base antenna with a coax switch to receive. It
    receives great. THis set is not liscensed to transmit, and ever since
    my son thought it was a CB and tried to call (and smoked the final
    amplifier) it is now really a monitor.
    
     I guess it depends on what our priorities are.
    
     Dick
    
    
    
    
    
    
     I consider a radio an essential safety item, especially when ventruing
    offshore. I make sure my radios are in A1 shape as I want them to work
    when they are needed. I'd hate like the devil to become disabled
    offshore and have to transmit my distress call, only to find out the
    antenna was history and so was my
    
    
    
    

I am looking for a Antenna mount that I could attach
my radio antenna and my Loran antenna. I would like
to keep them together. Does anyone know where I can
get something like this. I have been looking but
aren't found one.

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			Thanks
			Jim

    I would recommend against putting two antennas very close together.
    
    Any conductor within the near field (2-3 wavelengths) is going to
    distort the field around the antenna and may give you blank spots.
    Think about a home t.v. antenna (yagi-uda) that has many elements
    close to the driven element. It has very directional characteristics
    with lobes of gigh gain in some directions and nulls in between the
    lobes. These are not characteristics ine wants in a highly mobile
    platform such as a boat - especially in an emergercy situation.
    
    Try to get your vhf antenna as much in the clear of all metal as
    you can, including other antennas.
    
    Bill
    

re .18:
    
>>    Any conductor within the near field (2-3 wavelengths) is going to
>>    distort the field around the antenna and may give you blank spots.

Bill, I assume you are referring to the VHF antenna. The wavelength of 
the loran signal is some 3000 meters (9000 ft). The wavelength of the 
VHF signals is only about 2 meters (6 feet).

:-)

My boat is only 16.5 and ever inch counts. Specially with an antenna that is 
8 feet tall. I use the boat for fishing, fishing and more fishing and antennas
get in the way. I would like to keep these antennas on the same side of the boat
but mounting area is limited. I fish Winni and out of the mouth of the 
Merricmack river, this equipment is very important. Below is the location of my
current antenna, just back from the windsheild on the starboard side. If they
will not disturb each other, I would like to put them on the same side. Other
possiblity is in front of the windshield, there is a bow rail but would only
use this as last resort. I would like to put them together on one mounting
bracket.
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Apelco makes my ship-to-shore and the lorans, so I give them a call. 



Radio and Loran Antennas   Should be a minium of 3 ft apart.


Loran Antenna length	   Should be 8 ft but if solid stainless was used
                           4 ft also had very good results.


Thanks for your help, I would have put them to close to together without
your help.

						Jim